Ding Dong!! Is She Dead?

by Alathia Morgan

  Megan was caught off guard because she had not thought about needing things like that.

  “They are in the filing cabinet; the first three files in the drawer should have all the stuff that we need.”

  Breathing a sigh of relief that it was all together, she felt better knowing her friend had her taken care of for whatever she might need in the days ahead.

  Allie packed the car and made a final sweep to see if there was anything else. Spotting the DVDs that Sally would miss, Allie grabbed some to keep Sally occupied in the next few days. She went back to the bathroom for Megan and she realized they had forgotten the bathroom toiletries. She grabbed a sheet from the cabinet and filled it with all of Megan’s stuff.

  Placing all of that in the car, she left the front passenger side door open for Megan. Balancing Megan’s body weight, Allie practically carried her to the car, hoping she wouldn’t hurt her worse. Megan winced as they passed the doorway.

  “Seeing that, I realize how angry he really was, I think this was the right choice. It’s a good thing Sally was already at school. Who knows how that might have turned out?”

  Realizing Megan would be at the hospital when Sally got out, Allie handed Megan her phone. “Call the school and let them know I’ll be picking Sally up today.”

  “Where’s my phone?” Megan asked, but didn’t have the energy left to look for it.

  “It was sitting on the table with the glass all smashed in with the hammer lying right next to it. I took pictures of it and put it in a baggie just in case we can save the sim card for another phone.”

  Allie looked up the number for the school and handed her the phone.

  “Hi, Ms. Judy, this is Megan Butts and I needed to let you know that Sally will be picked up today by my friend Allie Foster.”

  “Is everything okay dear? You have never had someone pick Sally up before.” Ms. Judy asked with concern in her voice.

  “Well, there was an accident, I fell and hit my head. I’m okay, but I will have to get some stitches. I’m sure that they will give me some good medicine and I don’t want to take a chance on driving with pain killers.”

  Megan had grown used to covering up what her husband did to her; it was second nature to make up a plausible story so Mike wouldn’t get mad.

  “You just take care of yourself and I will send the papers with you so you can add Allie Foster to the list in case you don’t feel well enough tomorrow as well.”

  Ms. Judy knew more than she let on, but Megan had no idea that others saw through her excuses to the truth she tried so hard to cover up.

  “Thank you Ms. Judy. That is so thoughtful of you, and I really hope to be better tomorrow, but better safe than sorry, right?”

  Megan was relieved that Sally would be taken care of. Allie started the car and drove away, leaving the front door hanging open.

  Chapter 3

  At the hospital, Allie drove straight to the ER, and a team came rushing out to meet them. She left Megan in their capable hands and went to park the car. She hurried in and stayed by her side. She filled them in with what little she knew about what happened. Megan had passed out before they could ask her any questions. It was no small miracle that she had stayed conscious for that long considering that she had a concussion.

  In the triage room, they started asking Allie questions, “What happened? Was she in an accident?” She answered as honestly as possible. Allie was hoping that the privacy laws would prevent them from giving out any information that could lead her husband to them; Megan should be safe for a while.

  “From what I understand, her husband was drunk and started chasing her. He started hitting her until she passed out. He left for work, leaving her there unconscious.”

  Allie tried to convey the urgency of the situation, “you can’t put her information in the police report because her husband works for the county sheriff’s office. Also to protect her, could you alert the local police without saying her name or age? I’m afraid of what he will do to her once he finds out that she is filing a police report.”

  “Oh, my gracious, I’m so sorry about this and we will do everything to get her well. I’ll go ahead and call the police about a suspicious abuse case involving children and that way he won’t even think about it. I have to report it, but at least we don’t have to give all the details out over the phone. ”

  Megan had not regained consciousness yet. They took her straight up for a C.A.T. scan and to do x-rays on her ribs hoping to discover if anything else had been harmed internally. It was only noon although the hours had gone by much slower than Allie would have thought considering what they had accomplished.

  Allie went ahead and asked the nurse if there was a local shelter. Since she had explained the situation, they gave her the information and the name of a good lawyer without her asking. Allie hoped that it they would be able to get a good lawyer who would work out the protection details when Megan was up to it.

  Allie called the numbers that they gave her from a phone in the x-ray waiting room. The Umbrella Shelter lady said, that once the police had assessed the situation, they would send someone out. Allie suggested that they come that afternoon about four p.m. so that she would be back from picking Sally up. That way they could work out a plan of action that would keep Megan and Sally safe. Allie wanted to be available in case Megan needed her to run errands or stay with Sally since she would probably be in the hospital overnight.

  Once, the police arrived, Allie spent the next hour answering questions about what had happened.

  “Ms. Foster, were you there at the time of the incident?” The policeman asked rather gruffly.

  “I wasn’t there when it occurred, but I got there about 10:45 and I know that Sally rides the bus at 7:15 so I’m not sure how long she was unconscious before I got there. I mostly only saw the aftermath of what happened. I took pictures of her and the front room all along the hall to the bathroom. I also took pictures of the smashed cell phone that was on the table with a hammer next to it. I bagged it so that if you needed it I wouldn’t have prints on it, but I know that Megan will need some of the information off of the sim card hopefully it is still useable. Where would you like me to send the pictures to?”

  Taking the business card from the lady detective, Allie wasn’t sure what else they would need to ask her. “Also, I have called a lawyer for her and talked to the Umbrella Shelter. They will be sending a representative out as soon as she is situated so that she and her daughter are taken care of. I understand that there is a point where you are trying to protect him, but I think that you should see these before you start with any accusations. I know that with him being an officer you might try to intimidate me because of how this would look for him.”

  Officer Long completely ignored Allie’s statement and started in on what were the right and wrong ways to collect evidence. She also got the “speech” about impeding a police investigation was cause for arrest, when she interrupted him.

  “Excuse me sir, but you have just now been called to have a crime reported. She was extremely worried that her husband, with whom you are acquainted, would be called before she was protected somewhere safe. She was concerned for her wellbeing and the fact that the evidence could be misplaced or covered up. I was not going to take that chance. As soon as she is conscious and able to have photos taken of her bruises, I will be documenting those as well.”

  Allie did okay in a crisis with blood and stuff, but after the crisis has passed it just made her feel woozy. She planned to stay out of the way until they had Megan cleaned up. While they were taking care of her and trying to figure out how much damage had been done. Allie continued to fill the police officers in on the situation.

  The female officer, Officer Grayson, took the phone and looked at the living room photo and the photo of Megan’s head. Handing the phone back, she looked at Officer Long, ”Since I’m the ranking officer present, we will be checking this out and making sure that Megan Butts and her daughter, Sally will be prote
cted. Just because he is one of us doesn’t mean that he can get away with domestic violence. Our job is to protect those that need protecting. I will also be uploading any and all evidence not only to our computer, but sending them to the DA as well so that there will be no problems with misplaced evidence on this case. We have Ms. Foster’s information and her statement so we can check out the house and see what things look like before anyone shows up and tries to clean up, ruining the crime scene.”

  Obviously, Officer Long was not happy about the situation that his fellow officer was being placed in or taking orders from a woman. He did close his memo book and started walking for the door.

  Officer Grayson turned from following her partner out, “If you need anything at all then please call me at that number.” She handed her a business card, looking straight at Allie as she gave it to her.

  “I cannot emphasize enough that even if I’m off the clock, I will make sure that I respond to your call. As the only female officer in this town on the police force, I can assure you that there will not be much sympathy for Ms. Butt’s situation. I’m afraid that both of you could be in danger if I’m not present. ‘Accidents’ can happen in stressful situations.”

  “Thank you, Officer Grayson. As soon as she is awake, I will text you and let you know what the doctors say about her condition.” Allie smiled at her, nodding her head in the direction that Officer Long went, “I don’t envy you the car ride to their house.” Officer Grayson acknowledged that by winking and headed out to deal with her cranky partner.

  Allie checked in with the nurse to see how things were coming with Megan. She was told that she had regained consciousness, but that they had another hour at least of tests unless there were unforeseen complications. They were hopeful that they would be able to get her settled into a room after the doctor had seen her. Megan had specified that Allie was allowed to have access to her and her medical information since Allie wasn’t a relative.

  Allie decided to go home and unload Megan’s stuff so that if Mike found her car then Megan’s stuff would still be safe. On second thought, Allie decided to get her a storage unit in case they were able to get more things from the house. She would pack her an overnight bag with necessities so that all of her stuff would be safe till she was able to get her own place. Knowing that it would take time to set up house somewhere and that she might have to move around a lot, it would be easier to have it in a safe storage unit.

  Once she had gotten the paperwork done and unloaded everything into the shed, she kept out the things that Sally would need for the next two days in the smallest suitcase and a couple of changes of clothes for Megan that would be ready when she left the hospital.

  Taking the rest of the items to her house, Allie took a quick shower to freshen up. Knowing that she had to get Sally on time, she left as soon as she was done. Normally, Allie tried to squeeze in as many extra things she could, multitasking which sometimes made her later than she planned. While some called it multitasking, it was really her coping mechanism so that she didn’t have any downtime. Since she was by herself most of the time, it helped to keep her busy so that she wouldn’t drown in self-pity.

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  Finding a parking spot at the elementary school, she headed into the office.

  “Hi, I’m Allie. I’m here to pick up Sally Butts today. Her mom called to let Judy know that it was okay, are you Judy?” Allie inquired of the nice, in charge looking lady behind the desk.

  “Yes, I’m Judy and her class will be out shortly. I will need to have a copy of your license and then if you want to wait for her on the bench over there. Also, here are the papers for Megan so that she can put you on the regular pick up list.” Ms. Judy handed her a stack of papers and took the license that Allie handed her.

  “Um, Ms. Judy do you have someone that brings you Nova books to this school?” Allie didn’t mind expanding her customer base while she was helping Megan. If they already had someone then no biggie, but if not then that would be more sales and a better network opportunity in the community.

  “We don’t actually, but you could leave some books and I will put them in the break room for you.” Judy smiled at her, “We are always looking for ways to make some of these older ladies more beautiful if you know what I mean.”

  “Thanks, would five books be good? I don’t want any catfights to start over the books.” Allie hoped that would be enough to start with.

  “Yes, that would be perfect and then next week if we need more I will let you know.” Judy graciously agreed.

  Hurrying because she only had a few more minutes till Sally got out; Allie unlocked the car to grab her labeled her books. She took a small sample lotion in to give to Ms. Judy for being so nice. Allie had found out the when you gave out nice samples or freebies it would get you into places that were not as likely to open their doors to strangers.

  Ms. Judy was pleased with the sample lotion. Taking the books from Allie, she placed them on the desk and handed Allie back her license. Sally came in just then and the ladies turned their attention toward her.

  ”Hey, Sally I’m here to pick you up today. Something came up with your mom and she wanted to make sure that you didn’t ride the bus home.”

  Since, Allie had been around a few times, Sally knew who she was thankfully. Sally was okay with it knowing that Allie would take her to meet with her mom.

  Once, in the car Sally wanted to know where her mom was. Allie had always been given so little information growing up; it had always made the situation seem much scarier than it had to be in her opinion. So Allie decided that she would be straight with her, since they were going to a hospital and she would see how hurt her mother was anyway. No point in sugar coating the truth for a few minutes.

  “Sally, your mom was in an accident this morning and she is at the hospital. They were giving her x-rays and making sure that her insides are all right when I left earlier. She will look really bruised up, but just know that she is a trouper. All your mom was worried about was that you wouldn’t be scared, okay?” Allie hoped that Sally wouldn’t freak out since she had no idea how to deal with an upset child.

  Thankfully, Sally just nodded, yes. She just kept looking at Allie with those big eyes.

  “So we might have to hang out for a while, watch some movies and eat some pizza at my house for tonight. Do you think that you can handle that while your mom gets better?”

  “Miss Allie did my daddy hurt my mommy?” Sally looked up into the rearview mirror to see what Allie would say. Oh, how to answer that question. There was being honest and then just not telling all of the facts, but this was a direct question so Allie did the best that she could.

  “Sweetie, it looks like your mommy and daddy got into a fight. Your mommy hit her head so she doesn’t feel so good. Your daddy still had to go to work so I don’t know if he was hurt badly or not. We got your mommy to the hospital and they are going to take good care of her. Then you girls will be staying with me till your mommy is feeling up to taking care of you.” Allie just hoped that this would take care of the questions. It was a short lived hope when Sally gave her the next statement.

  “I’ve seen my daddy hitting mommy sometimes at night when I’m supposed to be in bed. I know that it hurts because she is always telling him, ‘NO, stop please’. She also cries when she doesn’t think I’m looking at her. Will they arrest my daddy? Will he go to jail? He is a policeman and he locks people up, so who will lock him up?”, Sally asked in all innocence.

  Allie felt so bad for them. Here Megan had thought that she was shielding her daughter, but children always have a way of knowing exactly when things are not right.

  “Sally, I’m not sure if your daddy will be arrested. The judges and other police officers will have to make sure what happened and see what kind of punishment he will have. If he is taken to jail, it would be by police officers that your daddy doesn’t know. They will have to decide for themselves if he needs to be locked up.”

  “
Miss Allie, I don’t want my daddy to go to jail with all the bad guys. I love him, but I don’t want him to hit on my mommy anymore. It’s not nice to hit and he should have a time out to think about what he is doing. That’s what my teachers say when someone hits other people in our class; they need time out for bad behavior.” Sally was so innocent and truly serious that Allie had to hide her smile even though the situation itself wasn’t very funny.

  “Honey, whenever someone goes to the hospital because they are hurt, they have to call the police officers. They investigate to see if what happened is bad enough that a person has to go to jail. We will concentrate on getting your mommy well, Okay? She needs lots of love from you today to make her feel better. You can even make her a get well card so that when you are at my house, she will know that you are thinking of her. That will make her get well faster.” Allie was thankful that the hospital was only a few minutes away from the school.

  Allie didn’t want to think about what other questions she might have had from this first grader that she had no idea how to answer. When did kids get so smart anyways? She knew that she hadn’t been this smart.

  Parking the car, she got out to open the door for Sally. Taking her hand, they walked in to see how her mother was doing, hoping for some good news.

  Chapter 4

  They had put Megan in a room to herself so that they could monitor who was going in and out. Asking at the nurse’s station, they were sent straight to the room without any problems.

  When Sally saw her mother, she ran to her, but slid to a sudden stop. Looking up at Allie, she asked, “Will I break her if I give her a hug?”